Seen as the ultimate global brand recognition accolade, winners are uniquely judged through three streams: brand valuation, consumer market research, and public online voting. Seventy percent of the scoring process come from consumer votes. Each brand was named “Brand of the Year” in their respective categories.

“The awards celebrate the achievements of some of the greatest brands around the planet. All 245 winners have shown that they are at the very top of their branding game. With so many in competition, it is difficult for brands to win in their respective categories,” said Richard Rowles, Chairman of the World Branding Forum.

“Due to another successful campaign, this year saw an increase in participation of the awards. Over 135,000 consumers from around the world voted for more than 3,000 brands from 35 countries. Not all categories are awarded and some countries do not have enough brands to qualify,” said Peter Pek, Chief Executive of the Forum.

The awards is organised by the World Branding Forum, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing branding standards for the good of the branding community as well as consumers. It organises and sponsors a range of educational programmes, and has joint collaborations with leading universities and museums. The Forum also publishes branding news on its website that reaches a global audience of over 5 million.